To Measure a Year
by cloverhand
Summary: 12 fluffy Kiotr one shots, one for each month of the year. No real connection between the 12 chapters except for the themes of months of the year and Kiotr fluff. February is finally up!
1. January

Hey! Quick author's note. This is the first of 12 seperate one shots contained in this story. They don't follow a plotline, they're just built around the months in the year theme. For all of these, Kitty is 3 years younger than Piotr, so in this chapter, Kitty is 22 and Piotr is 25. Sorry if anybody seems OOC, it's my first XME fic. Also, sorry if it seems a little dialogue heavy. Please review with any comments or constructive criticism you may have. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution, Honda, Miley Cyrus, any of her music or questionable talent, Times Square or any characters shown in this story.

* * *

Kitty Pryde looked around the room. Things weren't looking so great for her right now. It wasn't so much that she came to a New Year's Eve party without a date, the problem was that she was one of two people without a date. And the other person without a date was Piotr Rasputin; her longtime crush. It didn't seem so bad at first, but then she remembered what would happen when the ball dropped. They would be the only two people not kissing. That would be really awkward, and Kitty didn't like awkward. The thing was, Kitty wanted to kiss Piotr, she wanted to kiss him pretty badly actually, she just didn't think he wanted to kiss her, and she did _not _take rejection well.

She looked across the room, to where he was standing, talking to Rogue and Remy. As if he could feel her stare, Piotr turned and looked back at her. Kitty blushed and looked over to where Scott and Jean were playing foosball, while Piotr excused himself and walked over to where Kitty was sitting.

"Enjoying the party, Katya?" he asked, while sitting down on the chair next to hers. Kitty jumped, startled; she hadn't seen Piotr come sit next to her.

"Definitely. Warren always throws the best parties!" Kitty replied happily.

"Da. Care for a drink, Katya?"

Kitty thought for a second. She was 22, and could legally drink, but, it was only quarter past 11, and Kitty thought she ought to stay sober long enough to see the New Year in.

"Apple juice, please," Kitty replied with a grin. She loved apple juice. It was her absolute favorite drink of all time.

Piotr walked over to the bartender, and ordered a beer and an apple juice. A minute or two later he sat back down next to Kitty and handed her the apple juice with a chuckle.

"What? Is there something wrong with drinking apple juice?" Kitty asked with a glare.

"Nyet, I'm not laughing at you. You just seem to be the only one not drinking something alcohol."

"I don't hold my alcohol well, okay?" Kitty paused and looked around. "Wow, you're right. Everyone _is_ drinking alcohol. Even Rahne's drinking!"

At Piotr's confused look Kitty elaborated. "She's only 20, right? Ooh, I bet Roberto got it for her!"

"Why Roberto?" Piotr questioned. "She's sitting with a bunch of other people, too."

"Well, they're going out, aren't they?"

"They are? How do you know that? I live at the Institute too and I've never heard that!"

"You've gotta keep your ears open, Petey!" Kitty giggled. "I bet I can tell you who everyone in this room is dating."

"I bet you can't," Piotr retorted.

"Loser fetches winner a beer?"

"You're on!"

"Hmm, let's see…" Kitty paused and looked around the room. "Rahne and Roberto are dating, Rogue and Remy are too, Scott and Jean go out, Kurt an— "

"Even I knew this much, Katya," Piotr interrupted, teasingly. "You've got to do better than this to win."

Kitty glared at him. "I wasn't done yet! Anyways, Kurt's dating Amanda, Bobby and Jubilee go out, Ray and Tabby date, Sam is dating Amara, Warren and Betsy are dating, and the two of us are single. That's everyone!"

"Impressive. I didn't know half of that. What kind of beer do you want?" Piotr asked.

"Surprise me. And like I said, you've got to keep your ears open!"

While Piotr was fetching her beer, Kitty got lost in her thoughts.

'Maybe being dateless isn't so bad. After all, it does give me got lots of time to talk to Piotr. I can't complain about that!' She looked over at him, while he was waiting at the bar. 'I can't believe he doesn't have a girlfriend. I mean, who wouldn't want to date him? He's the kindest, most caring, sweetest, guy ever! Plus, he's an excellent artist, a great teammate, and he's sexy. _Extremely_ sexy. I could look at him all day.' Kitty sighed as she stared at him. 'He's, like, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Plus, he's Russian. It's not like he wasn't hot enough without the accent, because he was. The accent just makes him even hotter. And his eyes are so gorgeous. The most beautiful shade of blue in, like, forever! And his muscles! They're so— Kitty! Cut it out! You sound like a 14 year old girl! I do not want to go back to being 14!' Kitty mentally admonished herself as she continued to stare at Piotr while he waited for her beer and talked to Bobby at the bar.

Kitty wondered if he felt the same way she did. Rogue had assured her numerous times that he did, but he was too shy to say anything about it. 'Rogue would know if Piotr liked me or not. After all, she's dating his best friend. Maybe I'll tell that I like him tonight,' Kitty thought idly. 'After all, the new year is a time for new beginnings.' Kitty nodded, her mind was set. 'Maybe I should have a beer or two first, though. I don't want to chicken out.'

Piotr came back holding two Sam Adams'. He kept one and handed the other one to Kitty. They sat in silence for a minute, sipping their beers, waiting for someone to have something to say.

"So, Katya how is life?" Piotr asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Life's good. And you?"

"It is good as well." He paused. "It is hard to talk about our lives when we live in the same house."

"I know, right?!" Kitty exclaimed. "So what can we talk about?"

"We can always complain about Logan's Danger Room sessions," Piotr suggested.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Those are the worst!" Kitty replied enthusiastically. "It's like he enjoys our pain!"

"I am quite sure he does. Especially Bobby's pain."

"Yeah, but that's Bobby's fault. Ever since he put Logan's uniform in the load with the red clothes when he was on clothes washing duty, Logan's been out to get him. The pink and purple Wolverine uniform was, like, the funniest thing ever, but it was still stupid. Bobby should've known Logan would track him down and make him regret it."

"Bobby should be more careful with his pranks. He's going to really get in trouble sooner or later," Piotr commented.

"Seriously. He's 21 now. You'd think he'd have grown up a little bit, but no. Not Bobby. He's probably never gonna grow up. I'm really glad he's like that, though. With all of this anti-mutant shit going on, we really need some humor at the Institute."

"I'm sure eventually the regular humans will accept us for who we are," Piotr reassured her. "This can't go on forever."

"Do you really think so?" Kitty asked, worry evident in her voice. "It sure doesn't seem like it now."

Piotr took one of Kitty's hands in his. "They'll have to, Katya. The number of mutants is constantly growing. Soon they won't be able to afford to discriminate against us without fearing revolution."

"Not if they wipe us out first."

"Katya, this is a day for celebration. Forget your worries for tonight. It's a new year, a new beginning. Maybe in the New Year we'll reach peace." Piotr paused and looked around. "C'mon Katya, let's go watch the TV. It's almost midnight."

Together they walked over to the couches around the TV. Neither one of them realized they were still holding hands. Piotr sat down by the armrest of the couch facing the TV and Kitty plopped down next to him.

"Hey, Amara, what time is it?" Kitty asked Amara, who was sitting on her left-hand side on Sam's lap.

"It's umm..." Amara pulled out her cell phone and checked the screen. "It's 11:56. Wow, only four minutes until midnight."

Together, Amara and Kitty broke into song. "Time is waiting, We only got 4 minutes to save the world! No hesitating, We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes!"

"Hey, you guys!" Sam shouted over the two girls singing Madonna. "C'mon! It's almost midnight!"

Amara and Kitty stopped singing as everyone rushed over to the TV area and tried to squeeze onto the 3 couches. Predictably, there wasn't enough room, and Ray, Tabitha, Scott, Jean, Rogue and Remy all had to sit on the floor around the TV.

"Ray!" called Amanda, who was cuddling with Kurt. "Turn up the volume! I can't tell who's singing at Times Square!"

After Ray turned up the volume, everyone discovered that they were going to spend the last moments of 2009 listening to Miley Cyrus sing "The Climb." Unfortunately for the boys, every girl in the room, in addition to Kurt, knew all of the lyrics and sang along. Most of them sang quite off key and sounded rather tipsy.

"Damn! How many beers have they had?" cried Roberto in horror.

"Too many," replied Scott unhappily. "Far too many."

"Who do you think is gonna throw up first?" asked Bobby gleefully.

"Kurt," said Ray.

"Oh yeah," agreed Warren, "it's definitely going to be Kurt."

"I'm not so sure," argued Piotr. "Katya doesn't drink well."

"Damn straight! Kitty can't hold her alcohol at all," laughed Sam. "Remember when we went out for Jubilee's 21st birthday and Kitty threw up after two beers? It was hilarious!"

Kitty reached out and smacked them both simultaneously. "I can hold my alcohol fine!"

"That's not what you said earlier…" Piotr teased.

"Shut up!" Kitty growled as she smacked him again.

The song ended and the television screen rolled over into a Honda commercial.

Suddenly Warren stood up. "Champagne! I forgot to get the champagne!" He started to walk quickly over to the bar.

"Hurry up, hun!" called Betsey. "Only 2 minutes 'till midnight!"

Kitty started getting nervous. Everyone was going to kiss when the ball dropped. 'Should I kiss Piotr? We're gonna be the only two not kissing. I mean, _I_ want to, but what if _he_ doesn't want to. Aw, crap! What do I do? I hate making difficult decisions!' Kitty's thoughts ran wild as she tried to keep from hyperventilating. As Kitty calmed herself down, Warren returned with 18 glasses of champagne and started to pass them out. 'Look,' she thought. 'No problem. Everybody's going to drink their champagne when the ball drops, not kiss.' Kitty glanced at the TV.

"Only 30 seconds left, you guys!" Kitty called out excitedly. The babble of voices grew. Kitty watched the countdown of the TV.

"20 seconds, everyone!" cried out Jean. The clock kept ticking closer and closer to midnight. Finally, it got to 11 seconds.

"10!" screamed everyone in unison, as the ball started its descent.

"9!

"8!"

"7!"

"6!"

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!!!"

When the countdown reached 0, everyone simultaneously drained their glass of champagne. Once they set down their glasses, all of the happy couples leaned in to kiss.

Suddenly nervous again, Kitty turned around to face Piotr. Piotr had just turned around too, and before either of them could speak, their lips had met.

It wasn't Kitty's first kiss, but it was the first one that mattered she realized. Kissing Piotr wasn't like kissing Lance, it was much better. Kitty and Piotr finally separated, coming up for air.

"That was…" Piotr started, unable to finish.

"Wow," Kitty finished, saying the only thing she felt capable of. Piotr just nodded. Kitty looked around and realized that all of her friends were laughing at them.

"What?" she asked crossly.

"Just impressed that's all. Y'all were kissing for at least a minute!" laughed Rogue.

"Actually, it was only 47 seconds," Bobby announced.

"You were counting?" Warren asked, surprised.

"Yep. It could turn out to be good blackmail sooner or later."

"Nice thinking, Frosty!" exclaimed Tabitha.

" Anyways," interrupted Jubilee, "do you guys know what time it is?!"

"12:01?" volunteered Scott, in a voice that suggested he was talking to a little kid.

"No shit, Shirlock!" retorted Jubilee. "I mean, it's time for fireworks!"

"Alright! I love fireworks!" shouted Kurt, as he jumped up and down, clearly displaying the maturity of the 23 year old that he was.

Everyone climbed up the flight of stairs out of Warren's basement, chatting happily, and walked out into his backyard.

"Hey, Remy! Want to give me a hand with the fireworks?" called Jubilee.

"Remy'd be delighted to be of service, _fille_," answered the Cajun as he walked up beside her. Everyone sat down on the grass as Jubilee and Remy quickly talked through what they were going to do for the show.

When Kitty looked up, she found herself sitting next to Piotr. She waited for Piotr to say something, to nervous to speak first, unsure of where they stood relationship wise.

"So, Katya, I was wondering; would you like to go out with me sometime?" Piotr asked hopefully.

"Like, on a date?"

"Da. On a date."

"I'd love to!" squealed Kitty excitedly. "When?"

"How about this Friday, at 7? Dinner and a movie, perhaps?"

"That sounds perfect!" Kitty was thrilled. It was like everything she had wanted for so long was finally happening. "You know, you were right, Piotr. The New Year _is_ a new beginning. A fresh start."

"You should've seen that coming. I'm always right," Piotr smirked at her.

"Ha, you wish!"

"I got everything else I wished for tonight. Why not that too?"

Kitty laughed and leaned up to kiss him and Piotr leaned down to meet her lips. The kiss was just as sweet as the one they shared when the ball dropped. When they broke apart, Kitty grinned and put her arms around his neck, pulling him back down. Kitty kept her arms around his neck and Piotr put his hands on her waist as they continued to kiss under the fireworks Jubilee and Remy had just started to shoot up.

They finally stopped kissing and just watched the fireworks. Piotr scooped Kitty up and put her in his lap. She leaned back against his chest and he put her arms around her. They sat together for the rest of the fireworks show, content to be together, surrounded by their friends, and looking forward to the rest of the year.

* * *

Yet another author's note: This was set in the basement of Warren Worthington's elaborate mansion. I'm not entirely sure if he had his own mansion in the show, but this is set 7 or so years later, so he does now. The bar is set up in the corner, and he has a butler or someone tending the bar.

Reviews are always welcome. If you have a problem with my story, please leave you're critique and what you think I should do to fix it. All reviews are greatly appreciated, whether they're comments or concerns. Except for flames. Those are never appreciated.

Also, if anyone can guess what song the title of the whole fic is coming from, they get virtual cookies! So review or PM me with your guesses!

Thanks!

~Cloverhand


	2. February

Hey there, all of my wonderful readers. I'm really sorry about the really long update time. I meant to have it up last month, but things got in the way. Specifically, a katrilion essays, visiting relatives many times, and my younger sister's numerous visits to the ER. I wasn't really focused on writing, since I kinda freaked out every time she got sent there again. Currently, she's on a heart monitor, has been passing out regularly, and has seen more doctors in the past two months than I have in the last 15 years. It kinda sucks and I haven't really been in a positive, fluff-friendly mood. So, once again, sorry about the wait.

AN: Kitty is 16, and Piotr is 19 in this chappie, despite what I may have said last chapter. They just look pretty close to those ages in Evo, in my opinion. Please review if there's anything you want to comment on; stuff that you like, that you want me to fix, that you think is OOC, is badly done, etc. Reviews are the best, no questions asked. Any flames will be given to Pyro, and I don't think anyone really wants that...

So, without furthur ado, here's February. Enjoy!

* * *

Piotr Rasputin crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it into the rubbish bin in the corner of his already messy room in the Xavier Institute.

"Dammit," he growled, as the failed attempt at a card joined a pile of wadded up pieces of paper, overflowing out of the bin and spilling out onto the surrounding floor. Piotr had spent the last day and a half trying to finish the card he was making, but he just couldn't find his inspiration. He knew it shouldn't have been this hard, but it had to be absolutely perfect. After all, Valentine's Day only came once a year.

Piotr pulled out another piece of paper from the stack lying near his feet and placed it on his wooden desk. He was determined to make the best Valentine Kitty had ever gotten. It was going to be perfect. He held his pencil poised over the paper to begin, but right as he was about to start drawing, a voice broke through his concentration.

"Hiya, Petey! Watcha doin'?" Piotr's girlfriend of 7 months, Kitty Pryde, enthused as she phased through his bedroom door and ran over to his desk, where he was about to restart his efforts to create her Valentine.

"Nothing that can't wait," Piotr grinned at her. "Why? Anything you want to do?"

"Well…" Kitty purred, as she sat down on his lap, "I can think of a few things I wouldn't mind doing…"

At that point, all conversation ended, as both Kitty and Piotr had found something more interesting to do with their mouths.

* * *

Piotr and Kitty had made their way to Piotr's bed and had been making out for a few minutes when Jamie burst in.

"Peter! Kitty!" he shouted. "You were supposed to be ready for the Danger Room session 5 minutes ago! Logan's gonna rip you to shreds, put you back together again, let Scott lecture you, then he'll dress you both up as Sabretooth and use you as punching bags!"

"Umm…exaggeration much?" asked Kitty rolling her eyes. "Just go tell Logan we're on our way."

Jamie cackled as he ran off down the hallway, imagining the look on Logan's face when he found out that Kitty and Peter were late to his DR session because they had been making out in Peter's room. Yes, Logan was going to be super pissed. Jamie grinned and hoped Bobby had remembered to bring the Logan Cam today, because Logan was going to throw a fit worthy of recording when Peter and Kitty finally managed to show up.

* * *

"Um, Katya? Don't you think we should be getting ready?" Piotr questioned. Kitty was curled up on his lap, and although Piotr didn't mind, he had a feeling that things were going to get very ugly if Logan didn't see the two of them very soon.

"Hmmm…" Kitty mused as she reached up and started playing with Piotr's short, black hair. "Logan's gonna shit a brick if we don't show soon, isn't he? But, I don't really want to get up, you know? I'm pretty comfy here."

Kitty pulled Piotr down for another kiss. Piotr happily obliged, thinking it would be one quick kiss, and then they'd go suit up. However, as Kitty deepened the kiss, he quickly forgot about the Danger Room session. Kitty draped her arms around his neck as Piotr placed his hands on Kitty's waist. As they broke apart for air, Piotr moved his mouth and started trailing light kisses down Kitty's jaw and onto her neck. Kitty pulled Piotr's face back to her own, and lightly ran her tongue against his lips. Piotr opened his mouth and Kitty started running her hands over Piotr's well muscled chest when they suddenly both stopped and froze.

'PETER! KITTY!' Jean telepathically screamed into their heads. 'You two better hurry up. Logan's getting pretty cranky. And make it fast. I really don't like the color his face is turning…'

'Sorry Jean! We're on our way,' Kitty assured her.

'You better be. If Logan makes this session extra hard, we all know who to blame.'

'Tell Logan that we will be there shortly,' Piotr replied, ending the conversation.

"Go get ready, Katya. I want to live to see tomorrow." Piotr kissed her nose and helped her up, before walking over to his closet to find his uniform.

"Wait for me?" Kitty called over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

"Always, Katya."

* * *

True to his word, Piotr had waited for Kitty, and together they made their way down to the Danger Room, ready to face Logan's wrath.

When Kitty and Piotr phased through the Danger Room wall they were greeted by the sight of the entire student body of the Institute surrounding a very grouchy looking Logan, who seemed to need a beer. Or a few dozen beers.

"Russkie. Half-Pint," he grunted. "You're 10 minutes late. Explain. Now."

"Well…umm, you see, we….um….we," Kitty stuttered, suddenly finding her shoes extremely interesting.

"Care to top that, Tin Can?" Logan glared at Piotr.

"Umm…nyet…" Piotr trailed off, suddenly finding his shoes nearly as fascinating as Kitty found hers.

"Didn't think so. Both of you get an extra hour of training when the session's over," the short Canadian growled.

"Oooh, BUSTED!" cried out Bobby, thrilled that Logan was mad at someone other than him. "The Logan Cam is LOVING this!"

"Drake! Do us all a favor and shut the hell up!" Logan snarled.

"Right-o Captain Claws!" Bobby called out, raising one hand in a mock salute, the other hand now hiding the Logan Cam behind his back, hopefully shielding it from Logan's sight, so he wouldn't attempt to confiscate or destroy it.

"Drake…" the Wolverine trailed off menacingly, growling at Bobby. Bobby swallowed nervously and attempted to hide behind Roberto, who pushed him out of the way. Bobby, losing his balance, bumped into Jubilee, who then staggered into Amara, who squealed as she plowed into Kurt, who then knocked over Rahne, who landed on a very embarrassed Sam. Roberto then tripped Jamie for good measure, adding three new bodies to the cluster on the ground.

"Wow. It's extremely obvious why all the normal humans hate and fear us. We're clearly all hardened and dangerous criminals, with our amazing and terrifying skills, plus our killer sense of balance. If I were them, I would _definitely_ fear us too." Ray commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his seven teammates who had landed rather ungracefully on the Danger Room floor.

"I give up!" Logan shouted as he walked to the control booth, muttering something about a 'dumb-ass students who should've learned how to stand up on their own,' among other, less child Professor X approved things, under his breath.

As the mutants picked themselves up off of the ground, Sam and Rahne were both blushing profusely, but seemed to be pleased about how everyone had fallen, seeing as Sam's arm was now around the Scottish girl's waist. Logan started up the sim, now mumbling about how he needed a beer, and all of the X-Men standing below braced themselves for the joys of an hour and a half of Logan-style training.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, Piotr and Kitty stumbled out of the Danger Room, exhausted and dripping with sweat. Turns out, Jamie hadn't been entirely spot-on with his prediction, but he'd been pretty damn close. Logan hadn't made Kitty and Piotr's extra hour of training at all pleasant or anywhere remotely close to easy.

"Well, that was fun," Logan commented with a smirk as he leaned against the closed Danger Room door. He watched as the two teenagers walked together down the hall.

"Hey, Half-Pint! Russkie!" Logan barked down the hall. "Jamie told me why the two of you were late. Try and keep it PG around the younger kids, alright? We're trying to run a school here!" The feral Canadian man turned around and opened the door behind him, then walked back into the Danger Room with a bark of a laugh.

As he glanced over his shoulder, Logan observed that the Tin Can had the decency to blush, while his Half-Pint just huffed and dragged her boyfriend down the hall, to the elevators.

* * *

An hour after the DR session and the dinner following the session, Piotr was back at his desk in his bedroom, still unable to make the perfect Valentine for his Katya.

"Hey, Pete!" Sam Guthrie called as he strode into the room the two of them shared and plopped down onto his bed. "Some of the guys were gonna go into town tonight. You wanna come?"

"I'm sorry, comrade, but I cannot," was Piotr's rather distracted answer, as he tried to focus on his latest attempt at a Valentine.

"What, you and Kitty didn't make out enough before the DR session?" Sam asked, chuckling. He started throwing the clothes surrounding the ground around his bed all over the room, trying to find his second black Converse.

"Nyet, that is not it. I have something I have to finish for tomorrow." Piotr turned around to see Sam tearing apart his side of the room, holding only one shoe. "And if you are looking for your other shoe, it is on the over side of the room, stuck in the lampshade. I doubt I want to know how it ended up there."

"Ohh, thanks. Huh. Pretty weird place for a shoe to be." Sam walked over to his bed, now armed with his both shoes. "It's Valentines Day tomorrow, ain't it? So, you've gotta make Kitty a Valentine, raght?"

"Da. It's not turning out very well though. What are you and Rahne doing for Valentine's Day?"

"Umm…Ah'm sorta still working on that…" Sam trailed off, blushing lightly in embarrassment.

"Good luck, comrade! Rahne is going to be very unhappy if you don't pull through with this."

"Ah know!" Sam moaned and fell onto his back on his bed, dropping his shoes and instead trying to plan something for Valentine's Day that would please Rahne, but was still possible so last minute.

Piotr laughed to himself and turned back to his desk, and on it his current miserable failure at a Valentine's Day card for his girlfriend.

* * *

"Piotr, can I drive? Pleeeeease?" Kitty begged as they walked hand in hand through the unusually empty garage to Piotr's waiting SUV the next night.

"Sorry, Katya. I wish to arrive at the restaurant in one piece."

"That's ridiculous. Besides, I'd get us there faster," Kitty grumbled, as she climbed into the car past the door her boyfriend had opened for her.

"That's part of the problem." Piotr grinned at her and walked to the driver's seat door. Kitty chose to ignore him and pretended to be offended.

After he slid into his own seat, Piotr leaned over the divider to give Kitty a kiss on the cheek. In reply, she stuck her tongue out at Piotr. He chuckled and started up the car. Piotr backed his green Pilot out of his parking spot in the Institute's huge garage and drove down the long driveway, pausing only for the huge metal gates to swing open.

Kitty looked out of the window and watched houses fly by the quickly moving car. She sighed, long and contentedly, and laid her head on Piotr's shoulder.

"So, where're we going, hun?"

Piotr shook his head. "Not a chance. It's a surpise."

"Please, Petey?" Kitty pouted. "C'mon! Tell me! Please?!?"

"Give up, Katya. I'm not going to tell you."

Kitty picked her head up off of Piotr's shoulder and settled back into her seat with a mumbled "Hmph." Piotr laughed good-naturedly at her. Kitty replied by turning on the radio to drown out his laughter.

Piotr reached over and turned the radio back off. Piotr grabbed her hand as she reached over to turn it back on. "Katya," he said, interrupting the protest forming on her lips, "I think that maybe, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, we should stop arguing for the remainder of the night."

"You know, you're probably right. So let's talk about something else, like, I don't know, maybe where we're going for dinner."

"Nyet. I'm changing the topic now," Piotr grinned at his scowling girlfriend and brought up one of her favorite topics of discussion: gossiping about other residents of 'Mutant Manor.'

As they made their way to the restaurant Piotr had selected, the two of them talked about everything from Bobby and Jubilee's latest prank to Piotr's art to Kitty's new favorite band to the new crop of students and teachers at the Institute. They didn't let go of each other's hand for the rest of the drive.

* * *

"No way! I can't believe it! You got us reservations at Le Petite Chaton! How'd you do it? This is the best restaurant in Bayville!"

"Advance planning helped. C'mon, you don't want us to miss our reservations, do you?" Piotr took Kitty by the hand, and together they walked into the French restaurant. They stepped up to the maitre d', and Piotr told him their reservations. While he confirmed them, Kitty fidgeted in place, unsure if the new dress she was wearing was fancy enough for the high-class restaurant.

"Relax, Katya," Piotr whispered in her ear. "You look beautiful tonight, just like always." Kitty blushed and squeezed his hand.

"You look very handsome too, hun. Just like always."

The maitre d' led the couple to a booth in the corner of the room and handed them each a menu. He walked away as the two sat on opposite sides of the table, still keeping a firm grip on each other's hand.

The table was set for two, and with a crisp white tablecloth, a vase of flowers on the side of the table nearest the wall, and candles serving as lights, it was obvious that Kitty and Piotr weren't the only ones who had ever chosen the elegant French restaurant as the sight of a Valentines Day dinner.

The two fell into easy conversation, as people as close as they were tended to do. It was probably the nicest thing about their relationship. They understood each other better than anyone else in the mansion did, and both of them knew it. Whenever Kitty got into fights with any of the mansion's residents, Piotr was always the first person she would turn to, before even Rogue or Kurt. Likewise, whenever Piotr got upset about anything, he knew he could always talk to Kitty about it, and she would listen. Neither Kitty nor Piotr ever got tired of talking to the other, and even though they bickered, it was all for fun. Neither of them could ever stay mad at the other for long. While the waiter came and left, bringing their food and drinks, the couple kept up a steady flow of conversation, simply happy to be together.

After they had finished up dinner and the waiter left with the check, over an hour later, Kitty and Piotr got their jackets and got ready to leave the restaurant. Kitty shivered as they crossed over the threshold and walked out into the softly falling snow. The night air was chilly and Kitty only had a light jacket for cover. Piotr put his arm around her shoulders and held her close as they walked towards a nearby park. Kitty sighed and leaned her head against her boyfriend's large, muscular arm.

"You're too tall, you know? I mean, I'm supposed to put my head on your shoulder, and it's supposed to be romantic and stuff, but no. You had to go and be over 6 flipping feet tall!" Kitty threw the arm not wrapped around Piotr into the air in exasperation and for more than a little dramatic effect as they turned onto the footpath.

"Maybe it's not all my fault, Katya. It probably doesn't help that you're only 5'3." Piotr smirked at her, knowing that while needling her about her height may not be particularly mature, it would get a reaction out of her. Piotr internally groaned when he realized his intent: he had been spending _far_ too much time with Bobby.

"Uggh! Whatever. Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Rasputin!" Kitty growled, sounding entirely too similar to Wolverine for comfort.

"Relax, Katya. I'm only teasing. I think that you're perfect the way you are," Piotr placated his girlfriend. She sighed and leaned her head against his arm again, his teasing already forgotten. "And speaking of Valentine's Day, I have something for you."

The two of them sat down on a park bench and watched as they snow gently fell around them. Piotr reached into the large pocket of his jacket and pulled out a neatly folded canvas. He handed it to Kitty with slight trepidation, hoping that she would like it.

Kitty gasped as she unfolded the canvas to its full size. It was a portrait of the two of them, looking completely happy and completely in love. Kitty was shocked by the painting. It was absolutely beautiful. She had known that Piotr was an excellent artist, but this was remarkable, even for him.

"Oh, Piotr. It's beautiful! I love it!"

"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure if it would be an appropriate gift." Piotr smiled back at his grinning girlfriend, more relieved than he let on.

"Of course I like it! It's amazing!" Kitty reached up and turned Piotr's face to face hers, and pulled him close so they were only inches apart. "You're amazing." With that said, she closed the slight gap between their lips. After they broke apart, Kitty just rested her forehead against Piotr's forehead, staring into his eyes.

Piotr leaned in and kissed her again. It was sweet and gentle, just like Piotr himself was. As he pulled away, he grinned at Kitty. "Я люблю тебя, Катя."

"What? English, please," Kitty lightly teased, pressing her lips to his in another kiss.

Piotr put his hand up to her face to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He cupped her cheek in his hand as he whispered to her, "I love you, Katya," before kissing her again.

Kitty blushed, and grinning, she whispered back, "I love you too, Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin."

* * *

I'm kinda meh about the ending, but whatever. I'm overall kinda pleased with this one. Did you guys like the Sam cameo? He's gonna get one every chapter, since he's kinda the coolest New Mutant ever. Bobby would be too, except he isn't really a New Mutant, though Evo seems to think he is. Anyways, I'll try to have March up before too long, but I make no promises on when.

Dark-bat- Thanks for the review and the advice! I'm pretty sure I squealed when I got the review, as embarrasing as that is. And having read some of your stories, that review totally boosted my writing self-esteem. :D


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